Worry! Chemo treatments have to stop right now

Ucimpark

My husband is remission rectal cancer stage 4 with spread in and on abdominal wall.

He received is first chemo 3 weeks ago, after his abdominal wound heal. But his first chemo got him so bad, that he been in the hospital almost 3 weeks. Vomiting nonstop, hydrated, blockage in his small intestine. Pain on his stomach is unbearable, DR. Have to stop the chemo till the levels (blood,and others) go back at least near normal level.

Since diagnosed 2 months ago,  his cancer now is spread in is abdominal wall.. 

So worry with his situation, specially this time the cancer is more aggressive..

SandiaBuddy

Sorry

I am sorry that you are in such difficult cirmcumstances.  I really have no advice to give, except perhaps to seek another doctor and to try lower doses of the drugs.  I am sure others on the forum will chime in with more useful information.

darcher

Seems dosage amount plays a

Seems dosage amount plays a key role.  There are other threads with people taking 5fu and getting neuropathy after less than a dozen rounds.  I'm on Xeloda which is the pill form of 5fu and have had 20 rounds along with radiation and so far no neuropathy or other things beyond some vomiting on rare occassions.  I'm certainly not a tough guy by any measure.  It might be the amount given at a time triggers these things in people and they may do better with a lower dose over a longer period versus higher doses at shorter intervals. Just a guess but I doubt the xeloda is exactly equivilent to being on a pump of 5fu. It's probably weaker.  It comes out to 3000 mg a day between the morning and evening doses.  I don't know how that compares to being given the drug via a port but it sure seems a slower pace based on the number of times done.  

Annabelle41415

Sorry

So sorry to hear this.  Please try to ask some questions as to why this is taking so long to resolve.  It might not hurt to get a second opinon as well.  Sandia gave some good advice about the lower doses of drugs too.  Hope you get some answers that can help him through this.

Kim

NHMike

darcher said:

Seems dosage amount plays a

Seems dosage amount plays a key role.  There are other threads with people taking 5fu and getting neuropathy after less than a dozen rounds.  I'm on Xeloda which is the pill form of 5fu and have had 20 rounds along with radiation and so far no neuropathy or other things beyond some vomiting on rare occassions.  I'm certainly not a tough guy by any measure.  It might be the amount given at a time triggers these things in people and they may do better with a lower dose over a longer period versus higher doses at shorter intervals. Just a guess but I doubt the xeloda is exactly equivilent to being on a pump of 5fu. It's probably weaker.  It comes out to 3000 mg a day between the morning and evening doses.  I don't know how that compares to being given the drug via a port but it sure seems a slower pace based on the number of times done.  

I've read studies that Xeloda

I've read studies that Xeloda is actually more harsh than 5FU but the overall costs for Xeloda may be lower as you don't have the potential complications of infusion.

bobby66

Sorry to hear that your

Sorry to hear that your husband is so sick. I had to go to the hospital myself because of major pain in my stomach. I noticed that Avastin was giving me the pain, so i told my onc to stop the avastin. Ever since Avastin has stopped I have felt much better. Is he getting avasting? my onc also lower my dosage.

Ucimpark

SandiaBuddy said:

Sorry

I am sorry that you are in such difficult cirmcumstances.  I really have no advice to give, except perhaps to seek another doctor and to try lower doses of the drugs.  I am sure others on the forum will chime in with more useful information.

Thank you bud, im rhingking

Thank you bud, im thinking to take him to mayo clinic at Jacksonville foe second opinion. This week he received his second chemo.

Ucimpark

darcher said:

Seems dosage amount plays a

Seems dosage amount plays a key role.  There are other threads with people taking 5fu and getting neuropathy after less than a dozen rounds.  I'm on Xeloda which is the pill form of 5fu and have had 20 rounds along with radiation and so far no neuropathy or other things beyond some vomiting on rare occassions.  I'm certainly not a tough guy by any measure.  It might be the amount given at a time triggers these things in people and they may do better with a lower dose over a longer period versus higher doses at shorter intervals. Just a guess but I doubt the xeloda is exactly equivilent to being on a pump of 5fu. It's probably weaker.  It comes out to 3000 mg a day between the morning and evening doses.  I don't know how that compares to being given the drug via a port but it sure seems a slower pace based on the number of times done.  

Hi darcher, 

Hi darcher, 

He had xeloda last year, this year with recurrent and spreads doc. Want him in the stronger chemo. Lets see this week, how it goes cuz he just got another chemo this week.

Ucimpark

Annabelle41415 said:

Sorry

So sorry to hear this.  Please try to ask some questions as to why this is taking so long to resolve.  It might not hurt to get a second opinon as well.  Sandia gave some good advice about the lower doses of drugs too.  Hope you get some answers that can help him through this.

Kim

Hi kim, 

Hi kim, 

Yes, i think im gonna take him to mayo clinic at Jacksonville for second opinion. He just received his second chemo this week, lets see how his doing. So far they said they not gonna lower the doses, cuz the cancer growth in his abdominal less then 2 months. The vomiting is not that bad now, his he receive IV and TPN everyday..

Ucimpark

Hi bobby,

Hi bobby,

The pain now not as bad as before, he used this little patch that you put on your arms (fentanyl) it help little bit